HRD CLIMATE SURVEY IN NATIONAL THERMAL POWER CORPORATION

By: Namita Gupta

INTRODUCTION
Due to liberalization of the Indian economy many changes are taking place in the corporate sector. This creates unprecedented pressure on Indian organizations to improve their performance. Organizations need to Cope with changes in the environment. The rising expectations of todays employees have necessitated the increased emphasis on HRD.

WHAT IS HRD PHILOSOPHY

Acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various functions associated with their present or expected future roles. Develop their general capabilities as individuals and discover and exploit their own inner potentials for their own or organizational purposes. Develop an organizational culture in which supervisor and subordinate relationships, teamwork and collaboration among subunits are strong and contribute to the professional well-being, motivation and pride of employees.

LITERATURE REVIEW
A study of HRD practices was conducted by T V Rao in 1982 covering 45 industries. Another survey was conducted by Rao and Abraham in mid 1984 covering 53 industries. These studies provided data on HRD practices in Indian Industries (Rao ET AL, 1986) . These studies indicated by and large a positive trend in the use of open appraisal system, improving the training function, taking up OD activities and using employee counseling. BUT their was no breakthrough in performance and potential appraisal.

 Rao and Abraham (1986) conducted HRD Climate study in 41 different organizations. A 38 item HRD Climate questionnaire was administered to 1614 respondents, the study revealed that the general HRD climate was at average level. Employee attitude towards recognizing their own strengths and weakness was not encouraging. Top management made no special attempts to improve the quality of work life. The 40 items OCTAPACE profile questionnaire was developed by Pareek and its reliability was tested in 1991,through it study of 102 managers done in 1997.

EXISTING GAP
Most of the studies of HRD climate was conducted earlier in the year during pre liberalization era. There is a gap between earlier study and the HRD climate prevailing today, especially after liberalization, the effect of liberalization is now visible in all organisations, therefore study on HRD climate need to be conducted in the one of the largest public sector company NTPC to check out its strengths and weakness in terms of it HR strategies and suggest remedial measures for improving the effectiveness required.

ORGANIZATION OF STUDY
National Thermal Power Corporation-(NTPC) Type-Public Founded-1975 Headquarters-Delhi, India Key people-T Sankaralingam, Chairman & Managing Director Industry-Power Generation Products-Electricity Revenue-INR 261 billion (2006) or USD 5.91 billion Net income-INR 5.8 billion (2006) or USD 131 million Employees-23867 (2006)

NEED FOR THE STUDY

One of the giant PSU in the area of energy generation NTPC too has a major task of developing its manpower for achieving higher productivity, managing change and creating enabling environment, as competition from various different companies like Reliance, Tata and other global companies etc will emerge as a threat to their presently existing monopoly status.despite of being awarded as best employer award they are facing Human resource problems in various areas : 1. High employee turnover rate of competent & capable employees. 2. Their communication system is not very effective , lack of an environment of openness. 3. Employees feel lack of motivation

4.The system does not have enough of participation in management 5.Performance and potential appraisal system needs to change to be effective. 6.Lack of attention on subordinate development 7.Absence of a complete process for career planning & development. 8.Lack of delegation of authority.

STATEMENTS OF PROBLEMS
The NTPC system needs changes at the following areas: 1.Employees need more recognition and appreciation in order to feel motivated. 2.More avenues and methods for participation are needed to make employees feel empowered 3.The system lacks over certain aspects which causes many competent employees to leave. 4.Interventions are required at various major Hr dimensions like performance appraisal, potential appraisal, employees career planning and development ,employee attitude etc . 5.Inorder to create a more dynamic organisation the communication system needs to be overhauled keeping in view of the present needs of the employees and the environment. 6.The reasons of employee turnover are seriously required to be studied and changes are needed to be made for retaining the competent and commited employees.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1. The aim of this investigation would be to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the HRD climate and organizational ethos in NTPC. 2. Based on the analysis it can be assessed how well NTPC is adapting to the changing competitive scenario. 3. If required, remedial measures can be suggested to maintain its top position in India, and also how it can take itself higher in the international scene and be the best. 4. Through this we may ensure development of employee competencies, dynamism, motivation, and effectiveness in a systematic and planned way.

SCOPE OF STUDY
This study will only concentrate on the analysis of the development and implementation of appropriate HRD programs and interventions in NTPC, it will ignore the other factors like technology, financial planning and general policy related factors which might also be playing an important role in the effectiveness of the organization. The majority of data is attained by the survey conducted for the three major plants of NTPC in the NCR region located at Badarpur, Faridabad, Dadri along with various other offices of NTPC in NCR, some data may also be gathered from other plants too but only through questionnaires posted through mails. It is assumed that the data taken would act as representative for the total NTPC organization.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
a) DATA SOURCES: The research will use the two types of data 1.Primary data: this will be collected through questionnaire and personal interviews by the researcher herself; 2.Secondary data: this will be the data gathered from different published and non published sources like company records etc. b) INSTRUMENTS USED: 1. HRD climate survey questionnaire designed by TV RAO and E Abraham, 2. OCTAPACE profile questionnaire developed by Udai Pareek 3. Personal Interviews to fill up the data gap.

c) POPULATION AND SAMPLE:

More then 1000 managers/supervisors will be surveyed. All major departments will be included in the survey. For plants existing at far off places questionnaire can be posted through email. For the plants existing in NCR region the questionnaires will be administered by the researcher personally. Some data can also be collected through personal interviews conducted by the researcher in order to get answers to certain open ended questions that may become essential to improve the quality of research . Data can be collected from Different strata of managerial posts from all over the company and can be categorised on the basis of dimensions as work groups type, experience,designation etc.

TABULATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

HRDC:The entire data will be divided into no. of class intervals with equal class magnitudes(I=R/(1+3.3logn) by sturges.The 38 items of HRDC questionnaire will be classified in 3 categories.The mean scores for each categories will be derived, and be compared with the theoretical total average(50% of max.obtainable score) For total analysis: Score of 150 deduces excellent HRD climate, avobe114 is good,below 76 means scope for improvement.then a macro analysis can be done.

OCTAPACE:The mean scores for each variable could range from 5to 20 which can be compared by the theoretical average(9, 8.5, 9, 7.5, 10, 8, 9.5, 8),if less then scope for improvement else appropriate,and accordingly the data can be analysed . The total derived score if less then 100 which is the total theoretical average then their would be considerable scope for improvement.If higher then appropriate.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The analysis of the study would lead to the identification of the positive and negative points in the culture of NTPC, the positive points will add to the increased morale and commitment of the company employees whereas the negative ones will act as feedback to the management and the HR department so that further identification of various remedial measures and intervention can be done to lead the company to higher echelons.

LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH

This research will focus only on the HRD environment and will ignore the impact of all the other environmental factors like competitors, technological advancements, general policies of the company etc. Their could be a little problem in getting cooperation from the respondents due to their busy schedule and shift timings along with engagements at different locations. The findings of this study may not be applicable to other public and private power sector organizations due to varying nature of various influencing factors. The majority of data would be taken from employees in and around NCR region so the data may have certain implications that do not fully match with the employees at other locations.

Thank You